Episode #175 Is My Puppy Aggressive?

Do you watch your puppy and wonder, "Is my dog aggressive?" Puppy play can be rough and it may look a bit scary at times. Whether you have young children in the house or other dogs, it is important to manage as you train.  I'll take you through the paces of managing a multi-dog household, tackling the misconceptions around puppy aggression head-on. Learn how growls and nips don't always spell trouble and get the lowdown on strategies that have brought peace to my home with both humans and pets living inside. From household rotations to crafting a sanctuary for our wise, old Bruno, I've got the inside scoop on keeping tails wagging harmoniously.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

This is the Puppy Training Podcast, episode 175, is my Puppy Aggressive. This podcast is designed to help you on your journey of becoming best friends through love and learning, as you train your own dog from home, and I'm here to help you every step of the way. This is the Puppy Training Podcast and I'm your host, amy Jensen. This is the Puppy Training Podcast and I'm your host, amy Jensen. Hi everybody, how are you? It is a beautiful week here in Utah.

Speaker 1: 0:32

I'm having a lot of fun training and raising Bella. She and Baxter are becoming friends. Every day I see some cute little interactions between them where they get along really great. And then there are times of the day when she gets a little worked up and maybe they don't get along so great. So we do what's called rotating our household and we make sure that they have positive interactions with one another. And then I don't expect Baxter to be the puppy sitter. As my older resident dog, he does not have to watch her all day long, so I make sure they get alone time as well. And this is especially true for my older, older dog, I guess I should say Bruno, who's almost 12. He really doesn't have much interest in interacting with this puppy because she's high energy and she's got sharp teeth. She really wants to wrestle and play and he's just not able to do that anymore. So we actually set up a pen for him. It's his own little place that he can retreat to when he wants to just be away and have his own space. And then we rotate the household with him as well. So sometimes he gets to be out and about and that's when the puppies in the pen or in the crate and we're managing that. So there's a lot of management. That happens when you bring a new puppy home. Whether you have other dogs or you have kids in your home. Maybe you have babies, small toddlers. It's really important that you set up baby gates, pens, things like that, that we can manage and rotate the household so that everybody's happy. And then there will be moments when everybody can be together and it's great, and then there's going to be moments when they need to be separated, all right.

Speaker 1: 1:52

So today I want to talk about the question that sometimes we get asked is my puppy aggressive or hey, I think I have an aggressive puppy and you know, this can be pretty common when a new puppy comes home, because puppies growl and they bite and they play with their mouths and so it can look pretty mean sometimes and what we're doing is we're just watching their body language and looking at the overall picture of what they're telling us to assess. You know, what is this puppy trying to say to us and you know, to people who don't know what puppy play looks like which is pretty rough. It can look aggressive. So let's talk about this today. Hopefully this will ease a lot of your worries and concerns and you'll realize that most likely you have a very normal puppy. So it's pretty common that at some point you've seen and heard your puppy growl, snarl, mouth or bite, and it can be a little scary.

Speaker 1: 2:40

We recently added, as I mentioned, bella to our family and we have Baxter Baxter, who's three, and Bruno, who's almost 12. And Bella tends to get very excited quickly when she has lots of energy. Now this usually happens or spikes right after a meal. So as soon as that meal hits their bellies they get a spike of energy. It looks kind of crazy. People call it the zoomies. It's called FRAP frenetic random activity period, and this can happen several times a day. You know puppies are getting fed throughout the day. Bella right now is eating, you know three to four little meals spread throughout the day. So she gets these little bursts of energy that come and she can get kind of bitey and growly, but we can easily redirect her.

Speaker 1: 3:18

So just paying attention to the fact that she is exhibiting some of these behaviors can be scary if you didn't know what it was or why she's doing it. But she'll start to bite at our feet and maybe she'll growl a little bit, maybe she'll run full speed. If we're outside in the yard and here, she comes like a little torpedo. If I try to pick her up, she may become more agitated and maybe she tries to bite my face or my ears or my hands. She just goes for whatever she can to bite my face or my ears or my hands. She just goes for whatever she can. She's very snappy, right, and this can create a negative experience for both me and her.

Speaker 1: 3:48

So it's important to find a better way to handle this situation Now. There are things I can do to be prepared. That's really important. You're going to hear me say that several times today. Be prepared and set Bella up for success, right. It's my job to teach her how to play nicely. So, as mentioned, one effective strategy is to be more prepared.

Speaker 1: 4:13

Before letting your puppy out of the crate or pen, make sure you have some food in your pocket and a toy in your hand. This will allow you to redirect any unwanted behavior and reward the good behavior. It's important to plan ahead and be proactive in your puppy training, as this will make the entire process much smoother and happier for both of you, right? So before I let Bella out of her crate, I make sure there are several food rewards in my training pouch, or just simply put them in a pocket and I grab a long, dangly toy. Why? I can make this toy really fun, and puppies are movement magnets. So by wiggling this toy or squeaking it if it has a squeaker, that's even better I can teach Bella to go for the toy instead of others around her. Now imagine me trying to teach her polite behavior with no sort of reward or motivation. What does that look like? It's kind of messy. I promise that will not go well.

Speaker 1: 5:04

You have to have something positive to capture her attention with and then redirect her appropriately. So when dealing with other dogs in the household, such as Bruno, it's important to understand the dynamics of their interactions. If Bella is trying to push Bruno's buttons and get him going and just try to see if he'll play with her. This can escalate into a situation where Baxter also wants to join in. To avoid this, you can use food rewards to redirect Bella's attention, get her focus on you and then introduce her to this wiggly, squeaky toy and start getting her to play something else. So we just redirect her away before any kind of escalation happens.

Speaker 1: 5:39

Dropping little pieces of kibble in the grass as a food scatter for all your dogs is a great activity for them to redirect themselves away and onto something else. But older dogs like Bruno often do not have the patience or the ability to keep up with these young puppies. So we always want to be sure to supervise and give your older dog space as needed. If you need to pick your puppy up, use caution and be sure to pair this with some food so she remains calm and focused. Having close access to a crate, a pen or even just a simple leash tether is also helpful, so that she can deescalate herself and her emotions and bring herself back to a more calm state. Removing an overly excited puppy to a place where they can settle themselves alleviates the stress of the situation Now. Once your puppy calms down, we can try to help them interact in the space with the other dogs again, or with your children or other people who are out and about keeping their attention on me or the toy. As they coexist in these common spaces On a daily basis, puppies will go through what we call the four puppy biting zones.

Speaker 1: 6:41

Zone one is calm, zone two is playful, zone three, energized, and zone four is over threshold. It is important to note your puppy zones and when they're likely to happen. Your dogs will most likely get along better in zones one and two, possibly three. If your puppy gets too worked up in zone three, it's time to separate. Give them a little time and space for them to settle themselves. For zone four, we're watching for things like they won't redirect. They don't care that you have food, they don't care that you have a toy. There are going to be times if they get to that level that nothing else matters. They're simply just reacting.

Speaker 1: 7:16

You have a tired puppy, they need a nap, and so I try to gauge that with Bella, and I put her down for a nap before we reach zone four, so I'll help her go from an energized zone three, play and then we'll calm down and relax. Maybe I'll do a little training with her. I'll get her to do some sits or some downs, maybe some tricks that she knows. Maybe she she loves belly reps. So if I can get her to roll over and I can just gently stroke her belly and really get her to relax, and then we'll get up again and we can start to play. Maybe I get out that dangly squeaky toy and let her chase that around a little bit. Uh, we can. She has this little soccer ball with tags all over that she loves to chase and grab onto. So we'll play a little bit of that and then I try to get her to settle again. So I'm teaching her we can play, we can be happy and excited and rambunctious if you will, and then we settle. And then we play for maybe 30 seconds to a minute, maybe two minutes if she can handle it, and then we settle. So she's learning to regulate her zones. So paying attention to these zones will help. You know what needs to happen.

Speaker 1: 8:16

Time-wise Plan on giving your puppies a nap while they're playing in zones two and three and things are going well. Don't wait until your puppy is so tired that they are grumbly and irrational about everything. Use the food, rewards and or a toy to just guide your puppy back into their pen or crate for downtime while things are still going well. Please remember there's no need for punishment, anger or negativity when dealing with your new puppy, even when they get growly and unreasonable negativity when dealing with your new puppy, even when they get growly and unreasonable right. Most likely, you do not have an aggressive dog or a bad dog. You most likely have a playful puppy who is tired and needs a nap. Do your best to manage as you teach them how to behave around humans and other members of your household. Remember these puppies are dogs. They are not born with knowledge of how to behave in our human households. By being prepared, proactive and understanding the dynamics of your household, you can create a positive and loving relationship with your puppy.

Speaker 1: 9:12

If you need some training, help check out our online program. Everything is virtual. We have classes, courses, do-it-yourself learning modules. We have a puppy biting program. I have a puppy biting class that will teach you all about these zones that I mentioned in today's episode. We're here to help coach you through the puppy phase. All right, you guys. That's it for today. I hope you have a great week and happy training. If you have a question about anything you heard on this podcast or any other puppy training question, visit my site Baxter and Bellacom, to contact me.